Amusement device.



PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

No. 881,637. H

W. S. VAN SANT. AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

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1 w. s'. 'YAN SANT. AMUSEMENT DEVIGE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1907.

.No. 881,637. A PATE'NTED MAR. 10, 1908.

w. s. VAN SANT.

- AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLIO-ATION FILED SEPT.16, 1907 a SHEETSQSHEET a.

, with suitable carriers in which passengers vflooring or surface 3 overwhich the seats are device.

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WILLIAM S. VAN SANT, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

AMUSEIVDENT DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 16, 1907.Serial a. 393,065.

Patented March 10, 1908.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that LWILLIAM S. VA-N SANT, citizen of United States,residing at Oakland, in the connty'of Alameda and State of (alifornia,have invented new and useful Improvements in Amusement Devices, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to amusement devices of that class in whiclrthoseto be amused are carried upon traveling supports and transported'throughvarious scenes during the travel. i

It consists in the combination of mechanism, and in details ofconstruction which will be more fully explained by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan. Fig. 2 is a partialvertical section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of theseat-actuating mechanism. Fig; 4 is a detail view of the track andapparatus. Fig. 5 is a partial section of a seat. Fig. (i is atransverse vertical section of a truck. Fig. 7 is a plan view of theturning It is the object of my present invention to provide an endlesstraveling way or ways,

ma be seated, and means for producing odd an unexpected conditionsduring the ride.

I have here shown my apparatus as consisting of a series of endlesstraveling ropes or cables, which may be driven by any suitable or wellknown power, not here shown. These cables A and B pass around variousdirection pulleys by which their line of travel may be changedhorizontally, vertically, or diagonally, at will. 1n the presentillustration I have shown the two cables A and B having seats orsupports 2 for passengers, so mount ed as to be moved by the cables.

The support for the seats may consist of standards which extend downthrough the movable, the flooring being slotted in the i line of travelof the cable, for this purpose.

A standard is preferably madewith a plurality of parts. The upperportion of the standard consists of a sleeve 4, to the upper end, ofwhich the seat is pivotallyl'ixed, as is shown at 5. About this sleeve aloosely turn- 5 able collar 6 is fitted, and this collar travels withinthe groove or slot so as to relieve the supporting sleeve from wear, andto reduce friction as much as possible. Below this collar :1. largerslceve 7 incloses the sleeve 4, and through both of'these sleeves passesthe inner'rpd 8. I The upper end of this rod is bent 'oirtw ard andivoted to the chair or seat 2 at a distance ehindor away from thepivotal center 5, as shown at 9. The lower end of this rod has anysuitable anti-frictional device 10, and by a rising and falling, orirregular surface, as 11, over which the anti-friction device 10 movesduring the travel of the car, it will be seen that when these undulatingportions occur the seatwill be caused to tilt about the pivot 5.

12 is a spring shoe contacting with the bottom of the rod 8.

All the rods and sleeves pass through the center of a carriage or truck.Outside of the truck are rollers 15, which are adapted to travel upontracks 16 upon each side of the line of travel of the central rod 8,previously referred to. The tracks upon which these rollers travel mayalso be variously curved. An instanceof this curvature is shown at 17,where the tracl rises, and the rollers, in passing over this naisedportion, will lift the car to any desired extent. Thus, if the car'is'traveling along on a level, it may pass between hedges or walls, asshown at 18, where there is no prospect upon either side; then suddenlyarriving at this raised portion of the track, the car will be lifted sohigh that the occupant can look over the f once and see whatever thereis upon. the other side.

The trucks 13 are here shown as havin anti-friction rollers 19 upon thesides, an these rollers move between the rails 16, and assist in turningcurves.

The cables A-B are clamped or .otherwise secured to the outer sleeves 7of the seat standards. as at 25, and the sleeves carry rollers 26 whichtravel 11 )011 fixed rails or supports 28 which thus ho d the cables up.

20 is a segmental cam so disposed with relation to th truck 13 and tothe sleeve 4 by which it is carried that it may be acted upon byprojections 21 fixed in the path oftravel and so disposed as to ,turnthosleeve; 4 and the scat carried tllQDtOll about a vertical axis, thuscausing the seat to swing in a small segmentand produce a moyc nentwhich makes the occupant of the-car turn with the seat.

The scgmentBO is shown with an inclined lower surface, and rests upon aroller 27 journalcd upon the truck 13. When the segfooted.

meet or part 20 and the seat, have been re leased from contact with thenut 2 by which the turning was effected, tlre weight of the parts uponthe roller 27, and the inclined surface of contact, will restore theparts to their normal position, where troy will remain until another,turning movement is ef- This device will operate as follows: Theoccupant of the car moving along, may meet the occupant of another carriding on a parallel line and in the opposite direction, and at theinstant when thetwo are about to meet, the mechanism heretoforedescribed will turn the cars about their vertical axes thus causing theoccupants to momentarily face one another. As this isdonc, the devices8aud ll will come into operation, and both cars will be caused to tilt,thus causing the occupsnts to involuntarily bow towards each other. Thisclient may be heightened by causing the cars to pass tln'ou'gh walls ordodges, as t-?.;8,,and while one is traveling upon one o of"theobstruction, and the other iuon other. side, and outof sight of other, Yi opening made in the interme diate wall will. be-so disposed that theturn lag and bowing of the chairs will-occur at the instant when-"thechairs have reached'this aperture; andpeople who are perfect strangersto eachothsrwill be thus caused to involontarily salute while they aretraveling.

Various modifications of the devices and the operations caused therebymay be readily ellected bv means similar to' the above,

' and well known to'a mechanic.

The lines ofseats 2 and 2 may be'so disposed that at the starting pointtwo companion seats will be side by side, and to increaso the cil'ectthey may be similarly colored; Thus,,the rowsof seats at that point waybe in pairs oi the same color, as red,

en, blue, white, yellow,etc., and two perin inesirous of making the triptogether will naturally take a pair of these seats. The upparatus beingstarted, the two will travel to gether for a short distance, then one ofthe cars, assing around. a direction. ulley, is carrie away from theother, and y reason of the tracks being made to incline upward anddownward, or to diverge, the two friends are at once so arate d, one,for instance, go- 531, up, and t is other down. To. heighten thiseifect, I have here shown a cavern or tunnel into which one of the carsdisappears. In the present case, this device represents a dragon with alarge head, and a mouth sufficicntly large to receive one of the cars.This mouth being mechanically opened as the car a iproache's, thiscarpasses into the'mouth or the dragon, which immediately closes, a d thecar is shut out fromview of its 00L panion car. This car may then usedownwardly, while the other car w pass "upwardly, still more effectuallyseparating the the first named, will pass then over the corrugoted orirregular base, and the result will be a series ol rough, bumpingmovements while passing over this portion. The other car may be made topass through similar oxperiences, and the rate of travel may be so timedthat the two cars will be brought near each other at a time when one ofthe parties may be bowing to a perfect stranger, in view of the friendthat he or she started with.

Other situations may be readily conceived from the foregoing, such as amaze through which the ars may travel in company, or separated, and thecars may finally be brought together for the last stage, where they willpass through a representation of a carnival scene, with all the noiseswhich accompany such scenes, and a final shower of confetti, coveredwith which they may emerge at the stopping place.

The seats of the different lines may be so numbered that oneunderstanding the ar rangement of the seats may get into an apparentlydistant seat, which will correspond with one 01' the seals which arearranged in pairs, so that il. the pair have been se 'mrulcd, aspreviously described, the correspondingly numbered seat will be so movedas to travel side by side with one of the people who have been thusseparated.

Various arrangements of this sort will serve to provide considerableamusement, and it will be seen that the situations may be varied,

to an infinite degree.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is-- 1. An amusement device, comprising independentlytraveling carriages and direction means by which the carriages are firststarted in pairs, and afterwards separated andmovcd in oppositedirections.

2. in an snusemcnt apparatus, a plurality of seats, nu .hanism by whichsaid seats are caused to travel, direction means by which said seats maybe separated, brought together, or caused to travel in oppositedirections, means by which the seats may be raised and depressed eitherrapidly or gradually, means by which the seats may be partially turnedto face toward or away from each other, and means by which the seals maybe tilted and the occupants caused to means by which one of the seatsmay be caused to travel upon a downward incline, and the other upwardly,and an irregular surface over lucl a sea -carrier 18 caused to I 'pass.rtlesm One of the cars, as, r01: nstance,

4.11:. an. amusement apparatus. endless traveling cables, seatsconnected therewith to start in pairs, means by which said seats we bepartially turned to face to or from eaci other, means by which the seatsare 5 tilted about a horizontal axis to produce a bowing mo ement, andmeans b which the seats are returned to them norma position.

In testimony whereof I have herennto set my hand in presence of twosubseriblne wit-

